Macedonia – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Croatia Picks Up On Brussels’ Recipe to Fight Refugee/Migrant Chaos

March 13, 2016 by inavukic 25 Comments

Vlaho Orepic
Minister of Internal Affairs, Croatia
Photo: Screenshot RTL TV 9 March 2016

Last week from March 9, Croatia closed its borders to most refugees/migrants transiting to northern Europe through Croatia in a bid to close the so-called Balkan route, which starts in Turkey via boats to Greece then up to Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany … used by hundreds of thousands of people seeking a new life in Europe. Many genuine refugees among them but reportedly more illegal migrants. This move by Croatia to close borders means that only those seeking asylum immediately after crossing the border into Croatia are permitted through (and there are very few of those as most want to go North to more affluent countries) as well as emergency (humanitarian) cases needing medical treatment they cannot obtain in a country they’re already in (e.g. Serbia). Slovenia closed its borders at the same time as Croatia and so has Macedonia on the Greece side. Serbia has announced it will follow the lead of other countries on the route and close its borders. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has last week announced Germany would send away, deport, all those found to fail the asylum test and are confirmed to be among those seeking a better life rather than necessary protection. Certainly the “sending back” moves have already caught on like “a house on fire” – tens of thousands are already being sent back to Greece not only from Germany but also from other countries on the route, having Greece rightfully worried that its tourism industry will suffer a terrible blow because of the bottlenecks being created with refugees/migrants stuck in one place.

Nea Kavala tent camp
Greece, near Macedonia border
Photo: Screenshot HRT TV Croatia News 12 March 2016

The moves to shut down the main route used by the vast amount of refugees/illegal migrants hoping to find asylum or better economic prospects in Northern Europe came barely a day after the EU and Turkey agreed to a proposal aimed at easing the crisis.

Idomeni camp Greece
near Macedonia border
12 March 2016

Slovenia’s and Croatia’s officials have stated during the week that foreigners meeting the requirements to enter the country, those who want to claim asylum and migrants selected on a case-by-case basis on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with the rules of the Schengen zone would be accepted through. While Croatia is not yet a member country of the passport-free Schengen Zone it’s evident that it’s application to become one involves proving worthiness at these times of this overwhelming refugee crisis and this is done via closing the borders to contribute to this domino effect occurring within the Schengen Zone and designed to stop or seriously disrupt the flow of refugees/migrants into the EU.

Minister Vlaho Orepic
Croatia
AFP Photo

“Apparently Europe has decided to start a new phase in resolving the refugee crisis. It was concluded that on the Schengen Zone borders the Schengen rules would be applied,” Croatian Interior Minister Vlaho Orepic told RTL commercial television 9 March 2016. “The border of Europe will be on the Macedonian-Greek border and we will respect the decisions that were made,” he said, while rejecting the notion that Croatian army should be sent to the border with Serbia as well. Minister Orepic was adamant that his police force can handle the crisis at the borders at this stage.
More than 1 million people have crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece since the start of 2015, many from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, and most aiming to reach wealthy Germany and Scandinavia, causing deep divisions among EU members about how to deal with Europe’s worst migration crisis since World War II. More than 650,000 have transited across Croatia since mid-September 2015 and as the weather warms up the fears rise that the influx of refugees and illegal migrants may become so overwhelmingly huge that it will seriously and fundamentally threaten the lifestyle and security of Europe’s citizens.

Pushing to get into
Slavonski Brod Croatia
camp – January 2016

The bottleneck currently ballooning in Greece at the border with Macedonia, in particular, of some 40,000 stuck at the Greek-Macedonian border, is already showing serious signs of unrest and low-level violence that could easily escalate. A transit camp at the border in Greece, for instance, designed to hold 2,000 people, Indomeni tent camp, is now busting with some 14,000 lying in mud and battling for a piece of bread. Macedonia said it would only grant entry to the number of refugees that will be allowed to transit through neighboring Serbia and further into Europe, hence only a few dozens have been trickling across from Greece to Macedonia per day during the past few days.

At Macedonian border with Greece
10 March 2016
Scuffles and violence as
refugees and migrants
try to push across borders
AFP Photo

At talks in Brussels on Monday 7 March, the EU agreed in principle to a Turkish proposal to take back all illegal refugees landing on the Greek islands and the price negotiated, or payment to Turkey is running into billions of euros. Newly arrived refugees in Greece in their thousands continue to head to Macedonia despite being confronted by a closed border and rain-soaked camps where conditions are squalid, human misery and unrest get larger by the hour.

Refugees and migrants
near Macedonia border in Greece
12 March 2016
Photo: Getty Images

The actions being taken by Brussels (EU) suggest that it’s only, or mainly, concerned with the interests of its military circles particularly the Schengen Zone, not people, in desperate bids to save itself within the demographic and freedom of movement parameters it set itself decades ago and Croatia is most desirous of being counted in. Because of this, and Brussels’ inability to reach consensus between EU member countries with regards to sharing the burden of refugees from the Middle East etc., many have in recent months/year predicted the collapse of European Union as inevitable. Some say that it’s only a matter of time when the collapse will happen

Cui bono? To whose advantage?

Nicholas Bonnal of the French Boulevard Voltaire publication says that “the Austrian newspaper Info-Direkt shows that, according to a source of Viennese intelligence, smugglers of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to settle in Europe could be paid by the Americans…” Suggestions are afoot in this article that creating and organising chaos, such as the one occurring with the unsustainable influx of migrants and refugees into Europe, is a perfect example of political terrain for ruling by chaos. Only a handful of politicians would then rise above and rule and they are the ones with the knowhow in applying the principles of Neo-Machiavellianism.

Refugees and migrants wanting
to pursue northern Europe destinations
via the Balkan route
stuck in Greece in squalor and misery
AFP Photo

Whatever the realistically based theories and/or political conspiracy theories regarding the European refugee/migrant crisis exist one thing remains blatantly obvious: people are suffering. And it’s not just one side that’s suffering. People are suffering on both sides: those fleeing into Europe (the refugees/migrants) and the European people who largely fret that their standard of living will violently be reduced to unwanted levels as hundreds of thousands of people needing sustenance and care from the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan…approach.

European Union is truly stuck between a rock and a hard place – the natural instinct is to assist and help the needy and the political responsibility of those in power is to protect the lifestyle of those who elected them into power! The two cannot be reconciled without a major shift in attempts to address and solve this seemingly chaos feeding impasse.

Closed Balkan Route March 2016
Photo: DW

Brussels has the capacity to address the crisis to an end that would not mean the collapse of the EU and certainly the latest move to close borders (reportedly criticised by Germany’s Angela Merkel who has otherwise been unsuccessful in the past months to convince EU states to share the refugee load) and negotiate with Turkey to take back the illegal migrants and to keep refugees there as much as possible for a rather hefty payment of billions of euros seems to suggest that the EU is beginning to exert some strong directional force with view to “saving” the EU from crumbling under the pressure. The challenge posed by the refugees and migrants to the EU could, therefore, serve as a positive impetus for Europe to catch up on some long-neglected internal homework like bolstering controls on its external borders, deepening political integration between its member states/kicking off with a greater political unity of sorts, and taking serious moves toward common foreign and security policies. If voters (the people of EU) see these moves as successfully handled then those steps could breathe new life into the European Union idea, strengthen it to the point of prolonging its stable existence as a true union and even spur growth; and true, refugees capable of working could positively contribute particularly in a widened entrepreneurial sense. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: border closures to seal off Balkan refugee route, Brussels on refugee crisis, Croatia, EU, European refugee crisis, European Union, Greece, Macedonia, Schengen Zone, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, Vlaho Orepic

Vienna Summit and Alpback Forum Fall Short In Solving Europe’s Refugees Crisis

September 6, 2015 by inavukic 39 Comments

Left to right: Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanovic,
Albanian prime minister Edi Rama, German chancellor Angela Merkel
and Austrian president Heinz Fischer
at the Western Balkans summit in Vienna on 27 August 2015.
‘Finding an EU-wide solution
to the greatest movement of peoples
since the second world war
is an urgent priority.’
Photo: Georg Hochmuth/EPA

I’m aware it was high-Summer hot weather on 27 August 2015 when the highest representatives of the Western Balkan countries met with some high EU officials and high representatives of some EU member countries, such as Austria, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Slovenia at the Vienna summit. Given the boiling refugee and illegal migrant crisis taking place in Europe at the same time one would have thought, despite the hot and lazy Summer weather, the grand, air-conditioned, opulence of the Viennese Hofburg would have set conditions conducive to clear and decisive thinking on solving some of the logistical issues of the refugee crisis, at least.
But, ‘nah’ – while almost all leaders, come high representatives, spoke of the crisis, mentioned it, Western Balkans countries spoke mostly of infrastructure and money.

The Viennese Hofburg

This year’s Vienna summit is part of the Berlin Process, a five-year process marked by yearly summits in order to underline the commitment to EU-enlargement towards the Western Balkans region. The focus of the initiative is on those countries of the Western Balkans that are not yet EU-members: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The EU-participants at the Summit are those countries, which have committed themselves to organise summit meetings: in addition to last year’s and this year’s organisers Germany and Austria, these are France and Italy. The process is also strongly supported by Slovenia and Croatia. Last year’s summit took place in Berlin on 28 August 2014 and gave important impulses for progress in the areas of regional cooperation, economy and the rule of law.
The refugee and illegal migrant crisis has through this Summit also demonstrated that the notion of EU enlargement is alive, as is regional cooperation. Although, the signal for the latter was quite weak because one could not but notice that in an enormous humanitarian crisis such as the one evolving and brewing in Europe it’s “every ‘man’ (country) for himself”!
Nevertheless, the refugee and illegal migrants crisis seems to have paved the way for the intensification of regional cooperation even if it is clear that EU enlargement is going nowhere for the foreseeable future. But even this “intensified” regional cooperation driven by the refugee crisis has its shaky foundations in mixed and confusing messages from different countries suggesting priorities are still individualised and far away from a collaborative, solidarity-filled, unified milieu in which one inevitably finds a certain consensus as to how to move forward.
Serbian Prime Minister Vucic said that he did not consider the EU to be like an ATM (to milk money from) but rather as an organisation with which Serbia shared common values. Alas, Vucic made sure he placed Serbia at a higher value to EU countries because of the “praiseworthy” (he said) way Serbia is treating the refugees! He said (almost repulsively alluding to Hungary) Serbia would not be building fences to keep refugees out.
No, Serbia isn’t building walls and fences to keep refugees out, it simply fails to deliver its international obligation as a sovereign country in ensuring that refugees and illegal migrants do not head, stampede on perilous journeys towards Schengen countries without firstly being processed. Serbia contributes nothing to the refugee and illegal migrant crisis, it panders to their destination preferences even though majority have not been processed nor identified as being entitled to refugee status.
Unlike Serbia’s Aleksnadar Vucic, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama suggested that it is money from the EU he is after and consequently funds are on the way for the building of highway linking Albania, Kosovo and Serbia. Either way, both Prime Ministers emphasised the need to support infrastructure but I am not convinced that it’s EU that should bear the brunt and the costs of this refugee and illegal migrant crisis just because the refugees say the words to this effect: “we are going to EU, to Germany and will get there one way or another”! Clearly, the UN as the worldwide organization has failed by doing nothing much so far to bring order to this situation dangerously running amuck. Politics are taking centre stage while people in need of help suffer.

The burning issue of refugee and illegal migrants dominated the Vienna Summit. This is the problem the EU and the Balkan leaders face. Tens of thousands of people crossing the border from EU member Greece and entering Macedonia, which is not a member of EU. They’re taken to Serbia’s border and swiftly cross Serbia to the Hungarian border with the help of Serbia’s authorities. Then they reach Hungary, which is busy building a fence on the border with Serbia and, inside, busy refusing or slowing down the process for refugees moving towards the border with Austria. At the Vienna Summit Serbia’s foreign minister Ivica Dacic told the EU it was making “unrealistic demands”. “EU, you have a problem and you’re asking us, Serbia, to come up with an action plan for migrants. You should come up with an action plan first and then ask us to come up with our plan. I have to be completely open with you on this issue because we are friends”, said Dacic.

Trust a Serb foreign minister to say EU has a problem because the refugees already in Serbia say they want to go to EU! To my way of seeing things, Serbia has a problem and it’s politically twisting the issue to suit its agenda. I had always thought that the central matter for refugees is reaching safety! Choice of where that safety shall occur is a minor issue. Serbia is safe for them, so why does Serbia – and Macedonia – for that matter, not act as “grown-ups” and turn to the UN for solutions and problems rather than the EU? The EU countries are showing differing levels of willingness to help but they too, like the refugees, have a right of seeking safety and that safety, in this case, can only come by processing those who say they are refugees but, really, one doesn’t know that until checks are made. In the meantime food, shelter, health care, roof over the head, clothing are priorities for all. The likelihood is that great majority are legitimate refugees from war areas so one must tread with utmost sensitivity and humanity.

EU leaders agreed in Vienna that a new policy is needed. Germany’s foreign minister, Frank Walter-Steinmeier, noted that some EU member states refused to take more migrants. “You all know that there is a number of EU members who are against it. But I’m sure that without a fair distribution we risk the acceptance in those countries which are currently having to take in the majority of the migrants…“ Germany’s Angela Merkel has opened the doors for the refugees without limiting numbers; she says Germany can cope.
Macedonia’s foreign minister Nikola Popovski expressed the hope that the Vienna conference will lead to what he called a European solution to the problem. Many of the observers, says Deutsche Welle, are pessimistic that these talks will produce a breakthrough.

Ahead of the Summit, the European Commission released an additional €1.5 million in humanitarian funding to assist refugees and migrants in Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The aid will support humanitarian partners in helping with the provision of basic emergency services such as drinking water, hygiene, health care, shelter, and protection for refugees and migrants, improvement of the reception centres, and coordination and reporting on migration issues in the region. Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said: “The Western Balkans are dealing with an unprecedented number of transiting refugees and migrants. The EU is stepping up its humanitarian aid to provide them with urgently needed relief. This is European solidarity at its core”.
The European Commission has previously granted over €90 000 in EU humanitarian assistance to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (on July 31 2015) and €150 000 to Serbia (on August 20, 2015) in response to this emergency situation. The funding went directly to the national Red Cross Societies of the two countries. Overall EU humanitarian aid to support vulnerable refugees and migrants in Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia now amounts to €1.74 million. And Serbia’s foreign minister Dacic still complaints while his Prime Minister Vucic ascribes all the “accolades” for refugee care to Serbia even if EU funds it! Very unfair!

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said that Croatia would gladly take its share of refugees as suggested by the EU distribution policy being developed. However, an action plan for this isn’t yet visible from Croatian government even though there are some buildings being prepared for that from EU funds. On the other hand, Croatia’s president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic believes that refugee quotas for countries to take in should not be “imposed by Brussels but indicated by countries themselves”.

I would also say that Brussels shouldn’t bear the burden but neither should individual countries – it should be UN at the helm and all countries to fall in with help.

From left: Austria president Heinz Fischer
Sloveina president Borut Pahor and
Croatia president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic
at European Alpback Forum end of August 2015

Croatian President’s surprising statement at the Europe Alpback Forum in Austria (around the same time as the holding of the Western Balkan Vienna Summit) suggesting that EU should cooperate with Russia on solving the Syria issue raised quite a few uneasy eyebrows around the Globe. The West is considering bombing Islamic State strongholds in Syria and for a while has wanted to rid Syria of Bashar al-Assad believing that would bring stability to the country, Russia has dug its heels in and one simply does not expect Vladimir Putin will give up his allegiance to and alliance with al-Assad that easily. Furthermore, instead of offering assistance with refugees and illegal migrants flooding Europe from Syria, Russia is announcing the building of its military bases in al-Assad’s heartland! Al-Assad can certainly not serve as a partner in fight against terrorism and, hence, indications are – neither can his ally Putin. Perhaps Croatia’s President thinks there’s ‘westward’ hope yet when it comes to Russia’s intentions in the Middle East? We live and learn, often with great unease. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Albania, Aleksandar Vucic, Angela Merkel, Croatia, Edi Rama, EU Enlargement, European Alpback Forum 2015, Frank Walter-Steinmeier, Germany, Ivica Dacic, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Macedonia, REfugee crisis in Europe, Serbia, Syria crisis, Western Balkan Vienna Summit 2015, Zoran Milanovic

Suffocating Refugees and Illegal Migrants Avalanche Heading Croatia’s Way

August 23, 2015 by inavukic 74 Comments

Refugees and illegal migrants making their
way from Greece to Macedonia
to continue into EU
Photo: AP Photos/ Sakis Mitrolidis

Countless thousands of refugees and illegal migrants from war-torn Syria, Iraq and other Middle East territory, Africa… are reaching Europe via Greece and Italy as points of entry in particular. According to interviews published on all world’s media all those coming from Greece across Macedonia and Serbia and Hungary are intent on making it to Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands, United Kingdom… they know where they want to go and expect to succeed in it, trampling over and destabilising European countries they cross towards their desired destination.

Refugees and illegal migrants of today appear to have expectations that they will reach their desired destination and stay there. How very different from the refugees fleeing WWII Europe – most were happy to wait in refugee camps and go to a country offered to them. Personal preferences played little part.

Refugees and illegal migrants
reaching border of Macedonia
from Greece August 2015

Today, we are seeing a humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes, a political crisis and a standard of living crisis of those living in the countries where this is occurring. We witness a great deal of criticisms directed to the countries or individuals for seemingly failing to assist or for using caution in allowing total strangers into their towns, countries etc. We have seen force being used at the Macedonian border with Greece against the refugees and illegal migrants; tear gas used to send them back to Greece…and then let them trough, or they break through police lines, in order to reach other countries where they want to go.

Train station in Gevgelija, Macedonia
Refugees and illegal migrants wait transportation

While doing everything within its power and control on a humanitarian base to assist the needy, to my view, countries have a moral obligation in protecting their borders especially when it’s known that there are most likely many Islamic State affiliates or fighters or supporters among them. And who can assure me that this is not a strategy to strengthen the IS within Europe? Please do if you can with certainty.
Croatia, has so far avoided the avalanche simply due to its geographical position. But, after Hungary builds its 174 Km, 4-meter high border wall with Serbia, Croatia becomes an alternative route for the entry of refugees into the Schengen Area. Croatian government has been saying all past week that it has a strategy how to care for refugees and illegal migrants and has begun preparations in the event that refugees and illegal migrants start entering Croatia en masse.
According to HRT TV news from 21 August 2015 “Croatia has enough facilities from Ilok to Dubrovnik that can accommodate immigrants if it is needed. There should be no problems as far as the accommodation of refugees is concerned. State Office for Property Management has a list of fifteen potential facilities which can be quickly put into operation if it is required“, said Mladen Pejnovic, director of the Office of Government Owned Property Management.

There are, according to Pejnovic, about 15 disused large objects that can be fixed and ready for use fairly quickly, if required. The majority of these facilities are former, now disused, army barracks, coastal resorts with unresolved ownership issues, as well as facilities, which Croatia received according to the agreements on succession of the former Yugoslavia.

While a will to help the needy is a gesture we should all follow, this declaration by Croatia’s government certainly seems most irresponsible, as it does not address the reality pressing upon Croatia’s own people and indeed the population of other European countries caught in this avalanche of fear, misery and instability. Croatian government announcement of having enough space to house refugees fails to address the safety of Croatian people and alarms raised in Schengen Zone countries, such as Germany, regarding behaviour of some EU countries not taking their “share” of refugees and illegal migrants. It, also, lacks criticism towards the UN for failing miserably at pooling resources of all UN member countries and establishing safe, clean and decent refugee camps at agreed sites across various countries.
This way, fear and uncertainty and human misery seem to be the only “currencies” UN is interested in.

Germany’s Angela Merkel

Germany has called on Britain to take more of a share of migrants coming into Europe. Interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said along with other countries it needed to be ‘more aware’ of its responsibilities as a member of the European Union. He made his call for the British to welcome more refugees after it was revealed Germany expects to receive 800,000 asylum applications this year – more than all 28 EU countries combined in 2014. Britain is not of the Schengen area of 26 European countries that have removed all border checks and passport controls between each other. It has an opt-out on taking part in a scheme to distribute migrants arriving into the EU between different countries and has so far refused.

Mirela Holy

Back in Croatia, Mirela Holy, leader of The Sustainable Development of Croatia (ORaH) a small green party and member of Croatian parliament has Saturday, 22 August 2015, sent to Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, and his government, an open letter regarding a refugee wave that has swamped the Balkans, calling on him to present a strategic plan for refugees, if his government had one, and to explain to the public how it would be implemented, reported HRT TV news on Saturday.
She also asked the PM how much budget funding had been set aside for the accommodation of refugees and their basic supplies and whether Croatian intelligence services cooperated with other countries’ services to efficiently prevent the infiltration of terrorists traveling with refugees, as well as how the government planned to prevent possible acts of terrorism and whether the security aspect of the crisis was being considered at all.
She said that the refugee crisis was a consequence of conflicts in Syria and other countries in the Middle East and that the exodus of a large number of people from those areas was expected to continue if no peace and security was established there.
Holy added that considering the fact that this was unlikely to happen without an international intervention led by the UN, Milanovic should inform the public about the government’s position on securing peace and stability in those regions militarily.
The EU has warned that it is currently facing ‘the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War’. Its border agency Frontex has said some 340,000 migrants have arrived already this year.
“This is an emergency situation for Europe that requires all EU member states to step in to support the national authorities who are taking on a massive number of migrants at its borders,” said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri.
“Frontex has called on member states to provide additional equipment and people to support our operations in Greece and in Hungary and the European Commission has approved national programmes to provide significant financial assistance to the Member States to address these challenges,” he added.

A member of the Macedonian special police forces holds a baby as migrants try to cross into Macedonia near the southern city of Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 22 August 2015 Photo: EPA/Georgi Licovski

A member of the Macedonian
special police forces holds a baby
as migrants try to cross into Macedonia
near the southern city of Gevgelija,
22 August 2015
Photo: EPA/Georgi Licovski

Croatia has at all times been willing to assist and take a quota of refugees (550 was the most recent number confirmed by the government) but I believe that the government’s announcement of having adequate space in disused objects to receive refugees and illegal migrants may be deceitful (as no limit to numbers these objects can take are mentioned) and encourage the avalanche to start falling on Croatia much before Hungary builds its announced border fence. It’s a shame we haven’t heard more about the plan or strategy Croatia’s government has developed to contribute in dealing with this humanitarian crisis, but I too suspect it hasn’t got a tight strategy. And it must! People in Europe are torn between the instinct to offer shelter and help to those in need and the instinct to shut the borders, lock the doors, while the leaders portray no unity in this crisis that’s threatening all – no one seems to be helping the other and no major UN Security Council meeting on this at the horizon. This is not a passing storm or an avalanche that will come quickly and dissipate just as fast. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)